crap bikes - discuss...

[My_Teenage_Self]

Now has anyone ever got hold of one, swapped out the components for half decent ones, I'm picturing some black Rockshox Indy C instead of the fake sus forks and a decent wheel set?
Could it be done, you know just for s***s and giggles?

*Calling Rampage... Rampage to the thread, please...*

 

[onyerbike531]

This is one of the best threads I've seen on here.

 

[Tsundere]

When I lived in London I had 2 bikes, a nice fixie that I used for my job as courier and a beater, it was actually a nice bike under the filth, a 94 Marin Bear Valley SE, but because I lived in a particularly ''''''''cosmopolitan'''''''' part of London I wanted a bike that would attract as little attention as possible, a bike that was fun to ride but looked like utter shit and so would still be there when I got back to it after a shopping trip etc, and that old Marin fulfilled the role perfectly.

Although I kept the components meticulously maintained the rest of the bike I left to wrack and ruin, and I even added to it's ugliness intentionally, decals were peeling so I half tore them off, I deliberately mismatched the wheels and tyres, I even bought a tatty saddle because the one it came with was quite nice, I never once washed the frame properly for the two years I had it and even used the cheapest crappiest lock I could find to further amplify the 'not worth stealing' aesthetic.

And this 'camouflage' worked a treat. I lost count of the amount of times I'd return to a bike stand or railing to see far prettier bikes missing wheels, saddles and even components, or cut locks strewn among the dead leaves where an expensive bike once stood, but my crappy old Marin was never once molested. I'd often meet other proud owners of not worth stealing bikes and we'd sometimes exchange a knowing smile as we watched some naïve herbert locking up his £1000+ thief magnet in one of Europe's most crime ridden ghettos.

Crap bikes can be the best bikes under certain circumstances.